Cage of Souls
by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Head of Zeus, 2019)
audiobook read by David Thorpe (Clipper, 2019)
A turgid standalone of trilogy-length but only a novella’s worth of storyline. Tchaikovsky’s dying humanity is not without interest, but only his characters prove genuinely worth the investment—all save the insipid viewpoint narrator with whom we’re lumbered for the 23-hour duration.
Death of Mr. Dodsley
by John Ferguson (The Crime Club, 1937)
audiobook read by David Thorpe (Soundings, 2023)
Ferguson affords the reader meticulous access to the discoveries, theories and reasonings of both MacNab and the police, yet still manages to spring a surprise of two (albeit in part due to glassy-eyed oversaturation). The prose is pleasant enough, its deployment underwhelming.
Seven Dead
by J. Jefferson Farjeon (Collins, 1939)
audiobook read by David Thorpe (Soundings, 2020)
A Golden Age mystery with vim. The scenario is striking but the biggest drawcard is Detective Inspector Kendall (straight-talking, sarcastic, almost manically bonhomous), who even when absent for a long stretch mid-book is ably deputised by a good-natured and loquacious civilian offsider.
Thirteen Guests
by J. Jefferson Farjeon (Collins, 1936)
audiobook read by David Thorpe (Soundings, 2020)
A relatively simple murder mystery obfuscated through excessive characterisation of players who are dropped without a second thought. Short and accessible but holds back its detective (the energetic, straight-shooting Inspector Kendall) until the race is more than half run. Perfunctory twist ending.
The Bedlam Stacks
by Natasha Pulley (Bloomsbury, 2017); audiobook read by David Thorpe (Bolinda, 2018)
Pulley’s second novel harks back thematically to her first: two nineteenth-century men from different cultures forge an unlikely friendship against a convincing backdrop of historical detail and subtly revealed magic realism. Slow-moving yet engaging, albeit with Keita Mori rather arbitrarily thrown in.